Some questions about the GD test.

[PumpkinZulu]

It's just what my midwife recommend, she does that for all people apparently, not to alter the results at all. I will be shocked if I have it, I'm young and healthy and definitely not overweight. My aim is not to alter results, I doubt it is my midwives either, it's just what she recommends (and it looks like a few other people have been told to eat more carbs, exercise and less sugar too). Thanks for all the info and advice ladies. Our diet and my exercise are pretty great right now so I will just keep doing that, with the alteration of cutting down on my sugars But eek, I reread my post and I can't see how I was implying I'd be tricking the test, no no no. From what I've read my middie is okay in saying about the carbs, as it helps when testing time comes, as your body has had a break from excess sugars and then boom, hello sugar

[KimB]

Carbs break down into the body as sugar so you need to have some of them but not to many. It is not just a matter of stopping eating sweet stuff. My GTT came back positive this time round and I have never had GD before in any of the previous 5 pregnancies. I think it is just a luck of the draw situation. Hope yours come back fine

[melbel]

It's just what my midwife recommend, she does that for all people apparently, not to alter the results at all. I will be shocked if I have it, I'm young and healthy and definitely not overweight. My aim is not to alter results, I doubt it is my midwives either, it's just what she recommends (and it looks like a few other people have been told to eat more carbs, exercise and less sugar too). Thanks for all the info and advice ladies. Our diet and my exercise are pretty great right now so I will just keep doing that, with the alteration of cutting down on my sugars But eek, I reread my post and I can't see how I was implying I'd be tricking the test, no no no. From what I've read my middie is okay in saying about the carbs, as it helps when testing time comes, as your body has had a break from excess sugars and then boom, hello sugar

Your middie is not quite correct if that is what she said. A low GI diet is great if you are wanting to avoid or treat any form of diabetes but in will in fact trick the test if it is not a diet that you follow everyday. The test is trying to see how your pancreas handles stress which is why most labs get you to go on a carb loading diet for the few days beforehand...they are trying to see how your pancreas handles the stress and how insulin resisitant you have become. By going easy on the carbs for the few days beforehand and resting your pancreas you actually put it in better position to handle the glucose load of the GTT.

So your pancreas would actually give a better result than if you had followed your normal diet or the carb load diet in the few days before and used up the insulin stores. That is why they carb load you...to tip the pancreas over the edge....

Having said that I wouldn't stress too much about it.....you will either have it or you won't....gestational diabetes unlike type 2 is not realy diet related, it is very much hormone driven. your placenta is producing a whole heap of growth hormones that make you insulin resistant at this stage of the pregnancy...This places extra demand on the pancreas to produce extra insulin to do the same job it normally would.....most people's pancreas' can keep up with the extra workload, for some it is too much and they show signs of high blood sugars or GD. As a guide your body has to produce 2-3 sometimes 4 times as much insulin as when you are not pregnant to metabolise the same amount of food. Some people need twice as much and cope well, some need four times as much and get GD.....it is mostly a result of the hormones and nothing whatsoever to do with weight, diet, lifestyle etc.....

And having said all that...we should all follow a low GI diet all the time then we would all have nice stable blood sugars and no sugar cravings or related mood swings....imagine how much happier the world would be?!!! LOL

[Honeybee]

Oh jeez, having read some of these replies, now I'm worried I've mucked up the test. I told my Ob before I did the GTT that I had cut back on high GI carbs and was exercising, and he just said 'good' and passed no further comment, so I figured what I was doing was fine. I'm continuting my low GI diet for the rest of the pg. I guess I will have to check with him again when I see him in a couple of weeks. I wasn't trying to trick the test, I was trying to change my diet for the rest of the pg because I was worried my body wasn't coping with the amount of carbs I was eating, hence the slightly raised GCT results. Hopefully it is OK.

[LionsandBears]

Honeybee - I wouldn't worry too much. Eating healthier can only benefit you and bub.

I should have mentioned by friend who had the GD baby really couldn't stop scoffing lollies. We can't be perfect. I know I had maccas too many times. Just do the best you can.

Did you get the GTT result?

[PumpkinZulu]

Your middie is not quite correct if that is what she said. A low GI diet is great if you are wanting to avoid or treat any form of diabetes but in will in fact trick the test if it is not a diet that you follow everyday. The test is trying to see how your pancreas handles stress which is why most labs get you to go on a carb loading diet for the few days beforehand...they are trying to see how your pancreas handles the stress and how insulin resisitant you have become. By going easy on the carbs for the few days beforehand and resting your pancreas you actually put it in better position to handle the glucose load of the GTT.

So your pancreas would actually give a better result than if you had followed your normal diet or the carb load diet in the few days before and used up the insulin stores. That is why they carb load you...to tip the pancreas over the edge....

Having said that I wouldn't stress too much about it.....you will either have it or you won't....gestational diabetes unlike type 2 is not realy diet related, it is very much hormone driven. your placenta is producing a whole heap of growth hormones that make you insulin resistant at this stage of the pregnancy...This places extra demand on the pancreas to produce extra insulin to do the same job it normally would.....most people's pancreas' can keep up with the extra workload, for some it is too much and they show signs of high blood sugars or GD. As a guide your body has to produce 2-3 sometimes 4 times as much insulin as when you are not pregnant to metabolise the same amount of food. Some people need twice as much and cope well, some need four times as much and get GD.....it is mostly a result of the hormones and nothing whatsoever to do with weight, diet, lifestyle etc.....

And having said all that...we should all follow a low GI diet all the time then we would all have nice stable blood sugars and no sugar cravings or related mood swings....imagine how much happier the world would be?!!! LOL

Thanks so much for the info! I actually spoke to my gp about this yesterday and he said the same as you! So I called my midwife, and I kid you not, I got: "Well yes technically it may trick the test a little, but that's what we want, isn't it? You won't have it anyway so there's no harm."

Um NO I said. I want accurate results. I want good care. Yep I want a Homebirth but at what cost, to compromise test results, no. If I did have GD (soooo unlikely) I would probably hire an IM and still have my HB. I was a little shocked actually.

God I am so uninformed ATM lol. Not like me. So if I had a crappy diet would that sway the results too? (I don't!)

[Arimeh]

Wow what a strange response from a midwife!! I much rather my midwife who doesn't insist you have the test, at least thats better than doing the test, tricking the result and maybe not getting good care? My midwife offers the use of a finger pr!ck test for a few days to test your sugar levels instead of doing the test, if she thinks that you are showing symptoms of GD in the first place. Surely that would be a better option than to tell your patients to "trick" the test?

[MrsBexie]

Everyone else has given great advice, so I will just say I am praying it comes back negative and you get the homebirth you want!!!!!

Good luck XXX

[melbel]

If you had a crappy diet all it would do would be to amplify GD symptoms such as high blood sugars because your pancreas would be over stressed......but the biggest factor in that will be the hormones which impede the effectiveness of the insulin. To put it another way, you have an overweight, crappy diet, biggest loser candidate type person, they will have insulin resistance as the fat cells impede the movement and effectiveness of the insulin cells. If you have a pregnant woman with hormones you have increased insulin resistance. Put the two together and you have a higher likelihood of tipping that particular pancreas over the edge into GD territory. But it doesn't automatically follow that it will occur...it all depends on how much resistance is occuring and how effective that particular pancreas is at picking up the slack.

As a type 1 diabetic my pancreas produces NO insulin of its own so you can see clearly in my body how a pregnancy affects insulin resistance. While I was pregnant I also suffered insulin resistance, EVERY pregnant woman does. My injected doses doubled over time from about 24 weeks till 37 weeks when Bubs was born. I have a friend who is also type 1 and about my size (healthy weight range) and her doses tripled...obviously her hormones affected her more than me....so you can see every person will react differently and I believe differently from one pregnancy to the next.....you can just cannot predict exactly who will and will not be affected by it.

Honeybee.....I wouldn't worry......the fact that you have gone low GI for the rest of the pregnancy will be a good thing and I am sure you and bubs will be fine.....If you are really worried about it the best way to monitor things would be to grab a finger stick blood test machine from the chemist and do a few tests over a few days, both fasting and about 2 hours after meals. These tests over a few days give a far more accurate indication of true GD than a one off blood test can, unfortunately it is not practical or affordable for the medical profession to make all pregnant women do this......compliance with that idea would also be an issue. I am sure you are just fine!

[katwa]

I agree with Taurean!!! GD is a funny thing. I had it with my first but didnt with my second on third so we'll see soon how this time goes.